Codename: Sailor V

Codename: Sailor V (コードネームはセーラーＶ) was the manga which started the entire Sailor Moon franchise. Originally intended as a one-shot in Nakayoshi, it was the story of Minako Aino, a girl who was approached one day by a talking cat called Artemis who told her she was an incarnation of the goddess Venus, and gave her a pen and a mirror which allowed her to transform into the heroine Sailor V.

The series continued in RunRun as the Sailor Moon manga ran in Nakayoshi, but at a much slower release rate than the latter. It ended shortly after the Sailor Moon manga ended and was collected into three tankoubon. In autumn 2004, the manga was re-released in a new two-book "New Cover" edition, following the Sailor Moon manga re-release in 2003-2004. This new version had 16 chapters as opposed to the original 15, because the last chapter had been split in two for the later release.[1] A Codename: Sailor V OVA was planned, but never happened.[2]

An English-translated version of the new edition of the Sailor V manga was released by Kodansha Comics beginning in September 2011.